Chapter 25: Mana Wave
A/N: This Chapter is a bit confusing so read it slowly.
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This pressure was the exact same as the one from the outer sector a decade ago. Clame was absolutely sure of it. She could never forget the tragic turn of events when someone had sacrificed her own life to forcibly burst down a rift.
It was the first time such an event had ever occurred in the history of the continent. However, a growing theory had begun circulating among academic institutions regarding a desperate method to close an overflowing rift: a tamer had to absorb all the volatile mana surging through the gate into their own body until they exploded. It was a dark, catastrophic last resort to save the majority while minimizing collateral damage.
Clame bit her lower lip even harder, drawing blood.
’Why is this same beast appearing here?’
When dungeon rifts were closed or cleared, any remaining beasts inside were supposed to be wiped out alongside the core. They should cease to exist entirely. So why was this identical pressure suffocating the air right now?
As thin trees danced, Clame recalled a horrifying rumor a superior officer had once shared with her. They claimed to have seen massive, grotesque hands forcing their way through the rift’s frame, prying the portal open to expand it. The sheer pressure radiating from the creature had triggered a localized shockwave because the beast was rated far above A-Rank—something so far beyond their comprehension that their official tactical gears had malfunctioned on the spot.
Now, registering that exact same pressure meant facing the exact same threat. If someone had been forced to sacrifice her life back then, it meant there was no conventional military answer to this monster.
Clame’s eyes widened in sudden realization. She turned around sharply toward her troops, shouting a loud, echoing command.
"Retreat! Enter the exit portal and prepare to close the rift from the other side!"
Close it from the other side? No one in the platoon actually knew how to do that, but they didn’t dare question her. Forcing their heavy legs to move, the soldiers scrambled out of the swamp and scrambled through the portal exit.
Within seconds, only the Elite Squad remained behind with Clame.
"What are you doing?!" Clame barked, her voice laced with panic. "Why are you not retreating?!"
"Commander!" Galin shouted back, stepping forward. "There is no way to close a rift from the outside! That’s completely impossible!"
Clame paused, looking down at the muddy ground.
Indeed, there was no known way to close a rift from the outside. The only way to close this gate was from within. Or perhaps...
"Please!" Galin clenched his fists tightly, his body trembling under the crushing aura. "Reconsider, Commander! It won’t cross over to the other side! We have already cleared the surrounding beast waves! The overall density of mana around the rift has already been weakened!"
Clame shook her head stubbornly. "You don’t know that. You only think that’s the case! But we can all see that pressuring is also raw, dense mana."
She turned her head back toward the source of the approaching pressure. It was drawing closer with every passing second.
"I’ve already witnessed this exact pressure before," Clame said, her voice dropping into a somber tone. "It is not something we can defeat, even if we combine our entire company’s strength."
Reaching for her Pocket Sanctuary, Clame triggered her spatial link and summoned her contracted beast—the Tyrant Golden Lion.
"Escort them out," Clame ordered her lion.
"No!"
"Please, no, Commander!"
"Reconsider!"
The Elite Squad tried to resist, but they stood no chance against an A-Rank beast. The Tyrant Golden Lion flared its own suffocating killing intent, physically repelling the squad members and driving them backward toward the exit portal.
Nair, on the other hand, stood her ground beside Clame, shaking her head in deep sorrow.
A minute had passed, the pressure became closer. Yet, Clame’s expression shifted. Her face became lighter as though she reached an enlightenment in this chaos.
"You don’t have to sacrifice your life, Commander," Nair said softly, pausing for a moment before continuing. "This is too much for you to bear alone. You still have so many things to accomplish in your life."
Clame looked at her assistant and smiled. But it wasn’t a smile born of genuine happiness—it was the expression of someone who had just connected the final pieces of a complex puzzle.
"Why would I sacrifice my life?" Clame asked lightly. "That’s impossible. I won’t do that!"
Nair blinked, thoroughly confused. "Then... why?"
She gestured toward the empty swamp where the First Company had just retreated. "The Elite Squad has already crossed over to the other side. Are you planning to fight that approaching entity head-on by yourself?"
Clame shook her head smoothly. "Nope. I am not that stupid. I only need them to cross to verify something."
She let out a soft chuckle as her entire demeanor shifted in an instant. The lingering panic completely vanished from her face, replaced by a razor-sharp, hyper-focused fighting state. Clame returned to her usual, unflappable, calm self.
"The Guard Slimes will fight it," Clame declared calmly. "And my beast will assist."
Nair raised her Inspecting Frame monocle to her eye, scanning the rapid fluctuation of the approaching aura. As the volatile signature calibrated across her lens, her breath hitched, and she gasped in absolute shock.
"This... this is... why?" Nair stammered, looking at Clame in utter disbelief. "When did you realize it? Why did you have to act like that?"
Clame’s smile broadened. "Just a minute ago. When every member of the First Company left the rift, I finally realized I was right all these years."
She turned her gaze back toward the surging wave of energy rolling over the dancing swamp trees.
"This pressure feels identical to the one from the outer sector, but it’s also fundamentally different," Clame explained, her voice remarkably steady. "This specific pressure only appears when lesser creatures absorb an excessive amount of raw mana inside a rift. This dungeon didn’t even have a dungeon boss yet."
Her eyes narrowed as the dark truth of the past settled in her mind.
"The reason Kalisha Lee died ten years ago wasn’t because a high-ranking beast was forcing its way through from the inside," Clame revealed softly. "It was simply because an A-Rank rift was exceedingly rare back then, and the local authorities lacked experience. They sacrificed her for nothing..."
Even with her calm demeanor, Clame couldn’t bring herself to approve of what the Suran City officials had done to that innocent woman.
"This is just raw, dense mana overflowing from the core," Clame continued, her tone turning purely analytical. "When the official rank of a dungeon fails to match the sheer volume of beasts spawned inside, this phenomenon occurs—a Mana Wave. And the way to neutralize a Mana Wave isn’t through human sacrifice. You simply deploy high-ranking beasts to act as a buffer and absorb the excess energy."
Nair listened intently, her brow furrowing. "Then... what was that massive hand people claimed to have seen back then?"
Clame shook her head, a cold, bitter edge touching her voice.
"It was never a hand. They were all just trying to cover their own guilt. When they could have easily contained the rift, they panicked over the sudden explosion of raw mana. To hide their sheer incompetence, they made up a story. Back then, they didn’t understand it was a simple Mana Wave."